Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Psalm of Complaint and of Praise.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
31 In You, O Lord, I have placed my trust and taken refuge;
Let me never be [a]ashamed;
In Your righteousness rescue me.
2
Incline Your ear to me, deliver me quickly;
Be my rock of refuge,
And a strong fortress to save me.
3
Yes, You are my rock and my fortress;
For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.
4
You will draw me out of the net that they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength and my stronghold.
5
[b]Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth and faithfulness.(A)
15
My times are in Your hands;
Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who pursue and persecute me.
16
Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
Save me in Your lovingkindness.
The Burning Bush
3 Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro (Reuel) his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb (Sinai), the mountain of God. 2 The [a]Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing flame of fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was on fire, yet it was not consumed. 3 So Moses said, “I must turn away [from the flock] and see this great sight—why the bush is not burned up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned away [from the flock] to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then God said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet [out of respect], because the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, “I have in fact seen the affliction (suffering, desolation) of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters (oppressors); for I know their pain and suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand (power) of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a land [that is] good and spacious, to a land [b]flowing with milk and honey [a land of plenty]—to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 9 Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me; and I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.
The Mission of Moses
10 Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, and then bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 And God said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve and worship God at this mountain.”
Stephen’s Defense
7 Now the [a]high priest asked [Stephen], “Are these charges true?”
2 And he answered, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory [the Shekinah, the radiance of God] appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,(A) 3 and He said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.’(B) 4 Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God sent him to this country in which you now live.(C) 5 But He did not give him inheritable property, not even enough ground to take a step on, yet He promised that He would give it to Him as a possession, and to his descendants after him.(D) 6 And this is, in effect, what God spoke [to him]: That his descendants would be aliens (strangers) in a foreign land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 7 ‘And I will judge any nation to whom they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve Me [in worship] in this place.’(E) 8 And God gave Abraham a covenant [a formal agreement to be strictly observed] of [which] circumcision [was the sign]; and so [under these circumstances] Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac [became the father] of [b]Jacob, and Jacob [became the father] of the [c]twelve patriarchs.(F)
9 “The [ten elder] patriarchs, overwhelmed with jealousy, sold [their younger brother] Joseph into [slavery in] Egypt; but God was with him,(G) 10 and He rescued him from all his suffering, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made Joseph governor over Egypt and over his entire household.(H)
11 “Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great distress and our fathers could not find food [for their households and livestock].(I) 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.(J) 13 And on the second visit Joseph identified himself to his brothers, and Joseph’s family and background were revealed to Pharaoh.(K) 14 Then Joseph sent and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all.(L) 15 And Jacob (Israel) went down into Egypt, and [d]there he died, as did our fathers;(M) 16 and [from Egypt] [e]their bodies were taken back to Shechem and placed in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.(N)
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